Chinese PCs may have to carry filter software

Big Beijing Brother is watching you

Manufacturers who sell PCs in China could be forced to bundle their machines with software that blocks sites that the Chinese government considers 'harmful.'

According to the Wall Street Journal, the software, called Green Dam-Youth Escort would be a requisite on all new PCs.

Notice served

The Ministry for Industry and Information Technology has reportedly created the notice that the software must be included on PCs but has yet to publicise it.

Susan Stevenson, spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, stold the WSJ: "We would view any attempt to restrict the free flow of information with great concern and as incompatible with China's aspirations to build a modern, information-based economy and society."

The developers of the software have insisted that the main sites blocked would be pornographic ones, although the Chinese government has a track record of restricting access to sites that are critical of the government.

This, 'Great Firewall of China' has famously led to Google searches for Tiananmen Square returning no mention of the massacre, and the eradication of discussion for a free Tibet.

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